Making a shot - The smiling Trinity

This one was taken during the photowalk in saidapet.I I was almost ready to go back home after a decent outing through the streets of saidapet and was just waiting on the marmalong bridge for my friends to turn up so that i can leave after a formal good bye.
Thats when 3 of these little girls came up to me with their bit notices.You can find these kinda beggars in many places handing over these piece of papers which details many things ranging from medical troubles,educational reasons to religious pilgrimage commitments. I generally dont like to encourage beggars and get particularly furious when i see kids begging(Its a long story!! not here..not now :))!!
So i turned away after uttering out a polite and firm no.

The girls turned away and started looking for somebody else to influence with their sorry tales.But one of them couldnt conceal her curiosity over my big black camera and started discussing with her friends rather loudly about whether they can request me to take their pic!!
That was enough of an invitation for me!! I beckoned them and asked whether they want me to take a picture of them.All three of them nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm. So I started my routine.

Strike 1









The one who was enthusiastic about getting their picture taken is smiling...The one on the right is not exavlty sure how to react ...seems like she is posing just because her friend pressured her to...The one in the middle is downright staring at me!! Understandable! Just a few mins back I had coldly shooed them away...
What do i do???

I tried to get into some small talk..get them out of their cocoon...asked their names and stuff...told them they need to smile to get a good looking pic  etc...
Moved out a bit so that they dont feel too intimidated ....and..
CLICK!

Strike 2




Err.....
Not good!!Something else needs to be done!!
Lemme try something else...Lemme get friendly with the girl in yellow!!
hi there!!
Lemme take a solo picture of you.. can you come here please...ya...and smile... ok...say cheeeeeese




CLICK!

Strike 3

I showed the pic to that girl and her friends too..Now they were excited..I need some work to be done with the middle one..
You want a pic just like your friend's pic??? come on here... just smile.. smile big..ok..yup! thats it...



CLICK!

Strike 4

Great!! now she is cheerful and comfy!! lemme click that other girl too so that she doesnt feel left out!!
Hey there!! One pic of you too..Ok...smile.......

Strike 5





thats shaky..but thats ok...
Now i can get them together...

Alright people!! lets try another group shot! ok?? yes!! why dont you people come closer...still more closer...ok..ready??



CLICK!!
Strike 5




Great!! I loved it!!I showed them and they loved it too!!

When i came home and saw it in the big screen i felt there was something missing there!!
Something really plain and dry about the tone!!
Lemme make this into Sepia! That will give the emotion i felt at that time! the feeling of vintage friendship and all that stuff!!
Good!
Now..lemme tweak up the contrast and sharpness a little!!

Cool!! I got my shot!!!

Strike 5


I later posted it with the following comment.

As I was waiting for my friend at the end of the photowalk,couple of these girls approached me with their bit notice with all kinds of sad stories,ending with a request for donation,a very familiar form of begging in the city.
I clearly indicated that iam not interested and turned the other way .
Thats when curiousity got the better of the middle one and she asked whether i can take a picture of them.
Similar to the other occasion i was more than happy to oblige.
Took a couple of shots and a bit of friendly cheerful talk to get the other two to get smiling normally.
But in the end when they smiled and when i clicked this we forgot who we were and where we were.It was a moment when three friends had a moment of fun and frolic and another friend clicking that moment.We were fellow human beings sharing the joy of humanity then being strangers divided by inequalities.
That moment was perfect